Wareham police make arrest in sober house fire

NEW BEDFORD— Police have arrested Joyce Dietlin, 56, and charged her for allegedly setting a fire at 5 Tyler Ave., a sober house in East Wareham.

NEW BEDFORD— Police have arrested Joyce Dietlin, 56 for setting a fire at 5 Tyler Ave., a sober house in East Wareham.

Dietlin was charged with arson of a dwelling, police said.

"We believe (Dietlin) deliberately set the fire in the living room area of the dwelling," said Interim Chief of Police Kevin Walsh.

He added the reasons for Dietlin to commit the alleged crime are unclear at this point.

Dietlin was arrested in Plymouth by Wareham Police and troopers assigned to the State's Fire Marshall's Office, according to a news release stated.

"She was staying ... at a friend's house in Plymouth," Walsh said. "She is originally form Plymouth."

Dietlin did not resist arrest, Walsh said.

The arrest came as a result of an investigation by the Wareham Police Department Detective Division, Wareham Fire Department, Onset Fire Department, and Massachusetts State Police investigators assigned to the State Fire Marshall's Office, police said.

The fire Saturday afternoon caused $170,000 in damage to a two-story wooden frame house occupied by 11 people at the time, fire officials said.

There were no injuries to civilian or firefighters, fire officials said.